If you live near a health club you will exercise more than the person who does not and as a result live a longer and healthier life.

At least that’s what a British study wants you to believe. It says that if you have close access to gyms, pools and playing fields, you will be less overweight than those people with no facilities nearby.

The data also showed if you live further away from a fast food restaurant it reduced the risk of obesity and the complications that come with men wearing jeans with a waist size of 40 inches. (Incidentally, women who wear jeans with a waist size of 35 inches or more are deemed obese).

The experts say that governments should consider these factors when designing and planning cities.

I am not sure who thought up this study but there are some people like us who will do anything not to exercise even if they live just a 15-minute drive from the coolest beach in Dubai or never eat healthy, nutritious food even if the junk food eateries were miles away from where we lived.

We lived for 10 years near the Russian Beach, with the Burj Al Arab overlooking the pristine blue waters of the Arabian Sea and what tourists describe as the perfect spot to relax or swim after a hectic day of shopping.

Over the years a rubberised jogging track was built for people who take their health seriously, but the only time we went to this beach was when a friend visited Dubai and we didn’t even dip our toes in the warm waters because we would dirty the car with the wet sand stuck to our feet from the beach.

We lived in the lush, landscaped area of Dubai called The Gardens that had walking and cycling paths and swimming pools that were free to use and we never used the facilities, but instead spent hours walking in the malls and wondered why our legs were aching, that had been atrophied due to lack of exercise.

Then my wife said we may only exercise if we spent money on a gym membership as it would motivate us not to waste the money. One of the instructors tried to sell us some protein shakes and I am positive, some illegal steroids as well, to make me look “toned” and “chiselled”. We bought a family membership, because the instructor said a family that exercises together, sweats together, or something like that, but we eventually lost about Dh6,000 and did not even pick up a sweat, as they say in the gyms.

Motivation fizzles out

Then I read a report that every year when the New Year comes around, gyms get very busy as people decide they will finally change.

But another study has shown that the people drop out after the first few weeks, and it is not because they live miles away from the health facilities, just that the motivation fizzles out.

(Incidentally, a whole new industry has spawned because of your laziness and people have become rich writing motivation books that you read while lolling on the beach).

Over the years life became much easier for us as Dubai became one the many cities in Asia and the Middle East where an American fast food giant decided to deliver hamburgers at home.

This chain incidentally does not do home delivery in America, maybe because it wants Americans to get out of their homes for exercise and drive down to their drive-throughs.

We decided our lives were getting stressful forcing ourselves to exercise and eat healthy, so we tore up our daily motivation diaries (this was before the advent of health and meditation apps) and decided life was much more fun if we did not exert ourselves and eat whatever tasted good.

Mahmood Saberi is a storyteller and blogger based in Bengaluru, India. Twitter: @mahmood_saberi.